SINGAPORE: World oil prices declined in Asian trade Friday as the market consolidated from strong gains after European leaders agreed on a plan to fight a debt crisis in the eurozone.
Investors were also digesting the details of the agreement announced after a summit in Brussels on Thursday which involves revamping a bailout fund to 1.0 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) and for banks to share the pain of a Greek debt restructuring, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, was down 37 cents to $93.59 per barrel in morning Asian trade.
Brent North Sea crude for December delivery eased 41 cents to $111.67.
"All things considered... the accomplishments of the past month (in the eurozone) have been Herculean," DBS Bank said in a market commentary.
"But our sense is that the announcement (on Thursday) was more 'announcement' than 'deal.' Officials had to announce something and they did, but the deal remains in their pockets and out of sight," it added.
"A reasonable guess is that we have gotten about half-way to what markets were pushing for a month ago. That's pretty good, especially in a month, and markets seem to be cheering that fact."
DBS however said there was still much to be done in the coming months.
"In short, the fat lady hasn't sung yet," it said.
Oil prices had soared after Thursday's announcement of the deal by European leaders.
"Given the decent gains in prices, one could expect consolidation. Markets going in a single direction tend to be unsustainable," said Nick Trevethan, a senior commodities strategist at ANZ Research in Singapore.
Trevethan however cautioned "against excessive exuberance in chasing the rally".
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